The Ice Age is Here
Speaking of the golden oldies, in today’s Guardian, there’s an absolutely terrific article on the continuing relevance of The Clash‘s 1979 LP, London Calling. Penned by Joe Queenan, this is the kind of exquisitely written, politically-charged music criticism glaringly absent from most US news periodicals.
Part of an ongoing series of articles commemorating the 30th anniversary of the first punk explosion, The Guardian’s special focus on ’77 contrasts sharply with the near-exclusive emphasis placed on remembering 1967′s Summer of Love in the arts sections of numerous American dailies over the past few months.
None of this is to say that similarly high quality, big picture music writing can’t be found here. I’ve worked with countless first class writers for whom this kind of journalism is second nature. The problem is a resistance to commissioning such pieces outside of indie music magazines and alternative weeklies.
Dunno. A bit heavy on the lyrics, light on the music. Sure, the Clash are “pop” but so are the Supremes (backbeat, ahem). A missed opportunity to talk about reggae/dub (although the first few PiL releases are probably the more important sonic touchstone) is also a missed opportunity to discuss British decolonisation and mass political groupings around ‘identity’ vs class. Which isn’t quite the same as “lifestyle”.
2ยข/p
Best wishes on the book!